3 Best Things this Week

Week of Mar 16, 2026
1-Great visit to The Closers last week.  They are coming up on their 10year anniversary.  Meeting had 100% attendance. worked on refining 2 processes (referral discussion & guest invites).  Was great to see some of first members (William Boyd, Jennifer McKinney, Beth Rojas, & Michelle Shuler) there.  Great to see a group that has stuck together and had sooooo much success.
2-The middle (8-11 members) is like a teeter totter. You won’t stay there. My suggestion: bump up your membership into the 12-15 range. If referral volume is good….It’s easy to grow at that size. If referral volume isn’t good….Let’s fix that!
3-Trying to develop a specific target list but find it to be hard? Use Google Gemini. So easy to get a list. Just type in what you need and it helps a lot!

*I like Houston.  Got some experienced returners from runnerup finish last year.  A great scorer in Flemings and I think it may just be their time.  No team has been a bridesmaid more than the Cougars & they have two heartbreaking championship game losses (83′, 25′).

Week of Mar 9, 2026
1-Slightly above average insights that solve concerns in every group:
*Get your group close% up to 40%. It solves so many things.
*F-2-F’s. Hit 1 per week per member
*focus on telling everyone your target market, be specific, your goals/needs, supplement with stories, and be excited about what you do.

As my mom liked to say:  “If you aren’t excited about what you are doing….Don’t expect us to be too!”

2-Pretty neat phone call with a guy in the northeast who is thinking about building something similar
3- My favorite week of the year.
*High School basketball regionals in KY brings some great matchups around the state.
*Conference tourney week for NCAA’s.
*Baseball gets started!
*Lacrosse is already going.
*Mary’s basketball season came to an end in her playoffs. They had their chances and executed our gameplan. It was so much fun coaching her and her friends this year.
*annual NCAA pool draft with my buddy Joe Albert and a few guys that I see once a year.
*Sad to see the last games for Christian County & Hopkinsville. Such a great rivalry (Go Colonels) that ends with conslidation next year.
*Huge CONGRATS to Tamron Manning, Integrity Insurance and associate coach of Great Crossing ^Lex4 chair also- 🙂 Great Crossing made a surprise run to win the 11th region (one of toughest in the state IMO) and will be back at Rupp for the 3rd year in a row.

Week of Mar 2, 2026
-“Culture isn’t taught. It’s caught.”
-Groups too often get hung up on one spot they want to fill. I see this alot. Often times the best way to fill the spot is too not hyper focus on it. Invite people from other spots
-Visit to Owensboro is always one of my favorites. Good to get back to my western Ky roots, but that group has got some great stuff going. Had a pre meeting lunch f-2-f to talk shop about what is, isn’t working. Had 7 members show up!

Week of  Feb 23, 2026
-Lex14 Focused Meeting. Great handouts by all members with specific targets. Taking 120+ COI shots in one meeting was pretty darn cool. One of the better focused meetings I’ve been involved in out of 100+
-Lexington Leaders: Matt Mauldin (member #1) presented. Nailed it. When you know your target market, they trust you, and include stories…..it becomes easy for others to refer to you.
-There is a big difference in saying “I’ll try vs I will”

Week of  Feb 16, 2026
1- Talk more.  How did you connect everyone involved in the referral?  text, email, introduction over coffee/lunch?  telling the group the little things makes a massive difference in the referral close%
2-Groups that have and work their process for:
-referral generation
-guest invites, guest interaction (both pre visit/post visit)
3- Lex4 meeting….Big Crowd. Lots of guests. Lots of referrals. Most fun I’ve ever had at their group. They have momentum and have it going on.

Have the best results over time
Week of Feb9, 2026
1-lots of Face-to-Face meetings at groups I attended.  Groups used the “no meeting” week to do lots of phone/zoom face-to-face meetings
2-Lex7 focus:  great referral volume.  Focus was on talking more about the referrals genreated.  Put us in the middle of the referral and how did we set it up (3 way text!)
3-Face to-Face conversation focus
-What are two things that I can do to help you in the next 60days?
-Who are two people that I don’t know that you think I should and why? Then, send a text to see if they are open to meeting!

Week of Jan 26, 2026
– Snow, then ice, then more snow

Week of Jan 19, 2026
– Members in every meeting taking shots to help the speaker
– Eagerness vs Willingness.  Your willingness has to match your want!
– lots of guests, F-2-F meetings

Improve on: Snow communication (have a policy….don’t do a group text day of.  It is the worst way to handle it)

 

Week of Jan 12, 2026

1-5 officer transition meetings.  Key take-a-ways
-learning from negative guest feedback  (not friendly, lack of follow-up).  Why did we lose someone to another group?
-improving processes to increase referral close% was a common theme.  Recommendation:  when you talk about referrals in the Referral Report the chair should ask:  “How did you connect them?”
Most effective is 3 way text! Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWhbgs2klgY

2- One group kicked out a member for poor attendance/participation
-They recgonized that the member was only in the group to “hold a spot”. They missed over 1/2 the meetings and only gave 1 referral all year. They received 20+…ouch.  They already have 2 guests registered to replace that spot.
-Kicking out a member is never taken lightly, but this is a team sport! Attendance matters a lot.

3- Attended & sponsored a networking event but on by Integrity Insurance
-It was fun and I got a referral!
-attending &/or sponsoring events that:
A-play to your strengths
B-puts you in a room with both current clients and prospective clients

*usually yields opportunities!   Thanks Casey & Tamron

Week of Jan 5, 2026
1-Cora Henderson, Pitt & Frank. Lou9, Brought props for her presentation
-brought 7 golf tees. Said here are 7 ways to “Tee me up for a Referral”
-talked through 7 easy ways to tee her up

2- Mike Oudeh, Bank of Lexington Speaker Lex2 specific list for presentation
-brought a specific list of 20 local real investors he wants to meet (name, company/companies)
-brought a list of 10 companies &/or families he wanst to meet for the purpose of deposit accounts & loans
-listed professions/COIs he wants to meet (realtors, real estate investors, builders, developers, & insurance agents)
-Told us to listen for anyone with a 7% of aboe rate

3- Multiple groups reviewed their 2025 YTD #’s
for referrals, revenue, F-2-Fs, absences

Bart’s tip of the week: Block 15 minutes a month on your calendar to review sent & received referrals
-Add revenue & close out what needs updated.
-Follow-up with those that you sent (text receipent…How did it go with….?)
-reach out to the sender for those that you need followup help with and ask them to reach out
-say thank you for to the referral giver on those that closed!